Tagged: the importance of sleep

According to a recently published article from Business Insider, almost 40% of Americans get fewer than 7 hours of sleep per night (recommended is 7-9 hours) and an estimated 70 million Americans have a sleep disorder! The article included the potential dangers of not getting enough sleep, but left out the damage it could have on your skin. Don’t worry — the Skinformant has you covered! Read on for the top 3 reasons you need beauty sleep.

image via dailymail.co.uk

1) Dark circles

Failure to get enough sleep puts our bodies under stress, which causes our brains to leach as much oxygen as it can from the blood. Oxygen-poor blood is dark in color, which is especially visible in the transparent skin under our eyes.

2) Breakouts

Stress-related acne can also come from no sleep — stress releases the hormone cortisol into your system, which can lead to blemishes.

3) Deeper fine lines and wrinkles

Finally, this same stress causes us to involuntarily contract our muscles — including those in our face (jaw clenching and brow furrowing included!), resulting in more pronounced wrinkles. Our body also generates free radicals when tired. These pesky molecules are one of the contributors to signs of aging, including fine lines, wrinkles, and skin laxity.

Not sleeping? It’s not hopeless! While we strongly recommend hitting snooze more often, try these three products to help the effects of exhaustion.

1) Lift and Lighten helps soothe and depuff the undereye area, and immediately improves the appearance of circles with pearl powder.